Thanks for all the lovely comments! It is a bit frustrating with the whole Harry and Abby thing isn't it? Thanks to the lovely Mathi over in the graphics forum I now have a siggy supporting this ff Hope you guys like it, and here is some more of the story!

When we made it back to the common room Seamus said goodnight since he had been up late all week studying for our O.W.L.s. He felt bad for going to bed so early, but I told him not to worry about it, and that we could hang out another time when he was less tired.

Ron and Hermione were sitting by the fire, Hermione a book perched on her lap and Ron scribbling something down on a piece of parchment with his quill. I went over to them and plopped down on the couch next to Hermione, resting my head back against the sofa and closing my eyes. I could feel that both Ron and Hermione were looking at me but I didn't want to meet their gaze for fear I might lose it. They knew that Harry and Cho were probably going to kiss, and they knew how much it was going to hurt me. Or at least Hermione knew...Ron was a little slow on the uptake.

"How are you?" Hermione asked, placing her book marker into her book.

"I'm alright," I said with a gentle shrug.

Hermione looked at me as if her own heart was breaking for my own. She knew how difficult this was, but at least she didn't have to see Ron snogging another girl. I was about to ask her what she was reading when the portrait swung open and Harry walked through it.

Ron sat up, excitement for Harry coursing through his veins, and instinctively Hermione reached out and touched my arm. I appreciated the sentiment but it did send a rush of all of her emotions coursing through my body, which was definitely not going to help.

"What took you so long mate?" Ron asked teasingly as Harry sat down in front of Ron, leaning his back against the brick of the fireplace.

"Oh shut it," Harry said, mild excitement filling his whole body.

Ron scooted himself forward. "So...how was it?" Ron asked.

Harry looked at Ron, avoiding contact with my eyes. "It was...wet."

Ron leaned back, his mouth falling open slightly. "A good wet or..."

"Well, she was crying you see, so I suppose the wetness from her tears was what I was tasting."

"She was crying?" Ron asked, completely dumbfounded. "You were that bad huh?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I am sure his snogging was satisfactory Ronald. Cho just has a lot on her mind lately."

Ron turned himself around so that he could look at Hermione. "Like what?" he asked.

Hermione closed her book. "Well for starters Cho is concerned that she might not even be able to come back next year because her father might be fired from the ministry. Then Cho is trying to deal with Cedric's death while at the same time feeling confused over her feelings for Harry, all of which are causing her grades to slip, leading her to be paranoid that she's going to fail her O.W.L.s."

Ron stared at Hermione as if she was going completely mental. "It's not possible for her to feel all of those things at once."

Hermione rolled her eyes again. "Not everyone is quite as void of emotion as you are Ronald."

Ron made a face to imply that he was offended, but I knew better. Ron was just confused as to how girls could process so much emotion at once. If only he knew that that was what I went through on a daily basis.

"So, are you going to ask her out?" Ron asked.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not really sure where things go from here."

I had been keeping quiet. I wanted to be happy for Harry. Happy that Harry had found someone who could like my Seamus for him, but I couldn't help but feel sad that I wasn't the one who had kissed Harry. I had been too chicken to do anything about it when I knew fully well what was going to happen.

"Well, I guess there's no point in trying something now, especially since we're heading home for the holidays tomorrow," Ron said, giving Harry a little punch in the arm.

"Yeah, it wouldn't make much sense," said Harry, turning to look at me. I had my gaze on the fire, trying desperately to control my facial expression so Harry didn't think I was mad. That would have been very hypocritical of me.

"Are you coming to stay with us over the holidays at...you know?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I was planning on it," I said, surprising myself with how pleasant I sounded.

Harry nodded. I kept my gaze on the fire, taking in deep breaths.

"We better finish packing then, shouldn't we?" said Hermione, getting up off the couch to stretch.

"Yeah, might as well," said Ron with an eye roll. He did hate packing.

"Are you coming Abby?" Hermione asked as the three of them went around the couch to head upstairs.

"I'll be up in a little," I said with a small smile.

Hermione nodded, before leading the three of them up the steps. I was alone in the common room, and as soon as I was sure that everyone was out of earshot I let the tears fall. I cried quietly, my body shaking from the sobs, before slinking on the floor in front of the fire. I watched as the fire slowly took on a blue color before shifting completely to a wall of solid ice.